Protein concentrate and an aqueous stream containing water-soluble carbohydrates

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are process for contacting a protein containing material with one or more wet-mill streams. The protein content of the protein containing material is increased.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed herein are protein concentrates and streams containingwater-soluble carbohydrates (co-products) and methods of preparing them.

BACKGROUND

For over 100 years corn wet milling has been used to separate cornkernels into products such as starch, protein, fiber and oil. Corn wetmilling is a two stage process: (a) a steeping process to soften thecorn kernel and to facilitate the next step; (b) a wet milling processresulting in purified starch and different co-products such as oil,fiber, and protein. In general, starch recoveries are between 90 to 96%.The remainder of the starch is found in the different co-products.

US patent 2003/0070673 to Liaw et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,144,087 and4,244,748 to Chwalek et al., EP patent 0 506 233 to Chie-Ying, U.S. Pat.No. 3,928,631 to Freeman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,705 to Johann etal., Patent WO 93/12667 to Cook et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,651 to Keim,WO patent 02/067698 to Kvist et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,773,076 and5,968,585 to Liaw et al. relate to wet-milling processes that producevarious products.

SUMMARY

The disclosed process provides methods of making streams containingwater-soluble carbohydrates and protein concentrates.

In some embodiments these methods involve contacting a stream that haspreviously been used in a wet-milling process (wet-mill stream) withprotein-containing material that has also been obtained from awet-milling process. These two components are then additionallycontacted with carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes (carbohydrases) thatbreak-down the starch and/or non-starch complex carbohydrates, such asfiber, into water soluble carbohydrates. The resulting proteinconcentrate is then separated from the aqueous stream, thus resulting intwo products an aqueous stream that has an increased level ofwater-soluble carbohydrates (increased meaning greater than prior tocontact with the protein-containing material and the hydrolyzingenzymes) and protein concentrate that has an increased proteinconcentration (increased meaning greater than prior to contacting thewet-mill stream and the carbohydrases).

In other embodiments, a protein concentrate and an aqueous streamcontaining water-soluble carbohydrates can be made from grain bycontacting one or more protein containing materials with one or morewet-mill streams and one or more carbohydrases and then separating theresulting protein concentrate from the resulting aqueous streamcontaining water-soluble carbohydrates. The separation can beaccomplished using any method known in the art for example membraneseparation, centrifugation, floatation, and the like. The separation canoptionally be accomplished at higher temperatures, such as greater than45° C., 50° C., 60° C., 80° C., or 100° C. In another embodiment, amembrane filtration is performed before or after the separation of theprotein concentrate and the aqueous stream. The protein concentration ofthe protein concentrate can be further increased by defatting theprotein containing material. Defatting can be accomplished by contactingthe protein-containing material with a solvent and/or an enzyme.

In some embodiments the protein-containing material comprises gluten,and in yet other embodiments the protein-containing material can bebleached using enzymes and/or chemicals.

As mentioned below, the wet-mill stream can be steep liquor, light steepwater, heavy steep liquor, primary feed, any centrifuge or hydrocycloneoverflow, a washing or dewatering filtrate, or mixtures thereof.Examples of centrifuge overflows include mill stream thickener overflow,primary overflow, clarifier overflow, starch wash overflow, or mixturesthereof. Examples of hydrocyclone overflows include starch wash overflowand millstream thickener. Examples of washing and dewatering streamsinclude gluten filtrate and fiberwash filtrate.

In some embodiments the process includes recycling the aqueous streamcontaining water-soluble carbohydrates. In other words, contacting theaqueous stream containing water-soluble carbohydrates with theprotein-containing material and the carbohydrases and then separatingthe aqueous stream containing water soluble carbohydrates from theprotein concentrate.

In some embodiments protein-containing material used in the processesdescribed herein can be the light gluten fraction, heavy glutenfraction, corn gluten concentrate, corn gluten meal, gluten cake andmixture thereof.

In other embodiments, methods involve a process step that comprises afiltration step to remove low protein content components. Optionally, awashing step can be used during or after filtration to increase proteincontent of the resulting protein concentrate.

In yet other embodiments the carbohydrases can be reacted with theprotein-containing material and the wet-mill stream at temperatures thatare at least room temperature, at least 40° C., at least 50° C., atleast 70° C., at least 90° C., at least 100° C., or at least 120° C.

The resulting protein concentrate and/or the aqueous stream containingwater-soluble carbohydrates can be dried. The aqueous stream containingwater-soluble carbohydrates can be dried to greater than 20%, greaterthan 40%, greater than 60%, greater than 70%, or greater than 80% drysolids.

The current invention further relates to a process for increasingrecovery of proteins in one or more protein containing materials ofgrain wet milling process and characterized in that in said process thecontent of water-soluble carbohydrates is increased in at least oneaqueous stream containing water-soluble carbohydrates.

Furthermore, it relates to a process comprising the following steps:

a. Taking a protein containing material obtainable after at least oneseparation step in the wet-milling process,

b. Contacting an aqueous stream of said wet-milling process with theprotein containing material,

c. Adding an effective amount of carbohydrase for converting starchymaterial in said protein containing material into water-solublecarbohydrates,

d. Separating in two streams, preferably a protein concentrate and anaqueous stream enriched with water soluble carbohydrates.

Another aspect of the invention provides compositions having cornprotein concentrate without exogenous amino acid sequences fromsaccharification enzymes. Saccharification enzymes are enzymes thatproduce short DP dextrose. Usually, saccharification is used tofacilitate the production of feedstock for fermentation. Examples ofsaccharification enzymes include glucoamylases (glucosidase),pullulanases and mixtures thereof. Exogenous as used herein refers toenzymes that are added to the process either in host cells or asisolated enzymes. Accordingly, the invention also provides methods ofmaking such compositions wherein these methods involve not carrying outa saccharification step. The presence of exogenous saccharificationenzyme amino acid sequences can be detected by any method known in theart, such as ELISA, electrophoresis, amino acid sequencing and/oractivity assays. The saccharification enzymes can be derived frommicroorganisms, such as for example fungus and/or bacteria.

Another aspect of the invention provides compositions comprising greaterthan 70%, 80%, or 90% corn protein concentrate and a carbohydrateprofile wherein at least 10% of the DP 1-13 sugars are DP 5-13(methodology provided below). Accordingly, compositions wherein at least20%, 30%, 35%, 40%, and 55% of the DP 1-13 sugars are DP 5-13 are alsoprovided. The DP 1-13 sugars are alpha 1-4 linked dextrose.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. Methods of Making Products

The disclosed process can be used to make a protein concentrate from anygrain that is wet milled, for example, corn, wheat, barley, malt, orsorghum (millet).

a. Wet-Milling

Wet-milling grain involves soaking the grain. In the corn wet-millingprocess the soaking of the grain is termed “steeping.” The steepingprocess of corn, generally, includes the addition of sulfur dioxide(from about 0.1 to about 0.3%) and steeping times of from about 24 toabout 48 hours at temperatures between from about 45 to about 60° C.After steeping, light steep water is obtained, which contains a highpercentage of the soluble parts from the corn kernels. The resultingsteeped corn kernels are relatively softer than they were prior tosteeping and at the end of the steeping process they can be separatedinto germs, fiber, starch and proteins.

The steeped corn is course ground in two steps to release the germ fromthe kernels. The germs are separated after each coarse milling step.Germs have an oil content of approximately 45-55%. The oil is usuallyextracted in subsequent refining steps.

The remaining coarse de-germed kernels are milled for the third time todisrupt the endosperm matrix and release the starch. Fibers are removedfrom the starch and endosperm proteins by passing the slurry over aseries of screens.

The separated fiber is then dewatered and dried. In some instances thefiber is combined with steep water that has been concentrated inevaporators until it reaches about 45 to about 50% dry solids. The driedmixture of fiber and steepwater is referred to as corn gluten feed.

The remaining starch protein mixture is thickened and separated using aseries of centrifuges. In the mill stream thickener (MST) centrifuge,the feed density is increased to improve separation of starch andendosperm protein (gluten). The overflow from the MST is sent to thesteep house for use as steep water. The underflow from the MST is sentto the primary centrifuge (primary separation step). In the primaryseparation step the gluten proteins are partially separated from thestarch. The overflow from the primary centrifugation step is the lightgluten stream. The primary underflow is sent to starch washing to purifythe starch. Overflow from the starch wash step is thickened in theclarifying centrifuge. The clarifier underflow is returned to theprimary centrifuge feed tank. The clarifier overflow is used for primarycentrifuge wash water and fiber wash water.

The light gluten stream, containing about 5% dry solids, is concentratedin the gluten thickener centrifuge. The overflow is used for fiber andgerm washing. The underflow, referred to as heavy gluten contains fromabout 10 to about 20% of dry substance, mainly insoluble proteins (lessthan about 70% on dry base) and from about 10 to about 25% of starch (ondry base). The suspended solids in the heavy gluten are separated fromthe process water with rotary vacuum filters. The gluten cake thatdischarges from the filters contains about 55 to about 65% water. Theprocess water (sometimes referred to as gluten filtrate) that wasseparated from the gluten cake is returned to the gluten thickener feedtank. The gluten cake is dried to a moisture content of less than about12%, and is referred to as corn gluten meal.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that descriptionprovided herein is of an exemplary wet-milling process and that theprocess can be varied considerably from the above description.Therefore, it is understood that any method of separating the starch,protein, and fiber into separate streams can be used to provide thestarting materials needed for the disclosed methods.

b. Starting Materials

The process of producing a corn protein concentrate can start using anycorn-protein-containing material that is produced during the wet-millingprocess. The term “corn gluten” as used herein refers to water insolubleproteins derived from endosperm. The term “corn protein containingmaterial” refers to streams generated from the wet-milling processwherein greater than 2% of the solids are gluten, and less than onequarter of the original kernel fiber and germ. For example,corn-protein-containing material includes streams such as heavy gluten,gluten cake, starch wash overflow, and primary feed. One or more ofthese corn-protein-containing materials can be used in the process.

The wet-mill stream is a flowable stream that has previously been usedin the wet-milling process. Exemplary wet-mill streams include cornsteep liquor (CSL), which can be either heavy (evaporated CSL) or light(LSW), primary feed, any centrifuge or hydrocyclone overflow, a washingor dewatering filtrate, or mixtures thereof. Preferred examples ofcentrifuge overflows include mill stream thickener overflow, primaryoverflow, clarifier overflow, starch wash overflow, or mixtures thereof.Preferred examples of hydrocyclone overflows include starch washoverflow and millstream thickener. Examples of washing and dewateringstreams include gluten filtrate and fiberwash filtrate. These streamsare characterized in that they have at least trace amounts of proteinand carbohydrates from corn.

The carbohydrases used can be any enzyme that can facilitate thedegradation (such as either saccharification and/or liquefaction) of acomplex carbohydrate to a water-soluble carbohydrate. For example,enzymes such as alpha-amylases, glucoamylases, dextrinases,pullulanases, hemicellulases, and cellulases or mixtures can be used.Alpha-amylase can be used to liquefy starch (liquefaction) up to about a40 dextrose equivalent (DE) sweetness measure. Mixtures of glucoamylaseand pullulanase can be further used in a saccharification step afterliquefaction to further degrade the starch polymers up to about 95-97DE,which contain greater than 90% of the total sugars (DP 1-14) with acomposition of at least 90% sugars of DP 1-4. In some embodiments themethods involve liquefaction without saccharification. In theseembodiments the enzymes used will be those commonly used to hydrolyzestarch molecules such as alpha-amylases. In some embodiments the methodsinvolve contacting the material with hemicelluloses and celluloses incombination with liquefaction and optionally saccharification. Maltedgrain and parts thereof may also be used as a source of enzyme.

In some embodiments the protein content of the protein concentrate canbe altered by using additional enzymes. For example, phytases and orpectinases can be used to digest the pectin and/or the phytate, whichwill allow them to be separated from the protein concentrate. Use ofphytases and pectinases may also result in a protein concentrate that ismore digestible than a concentrate that has not been treated. Otherenzymes that may be used are enzymes that join protein fragments, forexample polyphenoloxidases and/or transglutaminases. In someapplications elongated proteins will be more desirable. These enzymescan be introduced simultaneously with the carbohydrases or they can beadded in a separate step.

b. Processing

One or more of the corn protein containing materials is contacted withone or more wet-mill streams and one or more carbohydrases. The cornprotein containing material, wet mill-stream and carbohydrases can beplaced in contact with each other using any method known in the art,such as by slurring, mixing, or blending. In some embodiments, methodsinvolve a process step that comprises a filtration step to remove lowprotein content components.

The composition containing the carbohydrases eventually supplementedwith additional enzymes, wet-mill stream, and corn-protein-containingmaterial is incubated at a time and temperature sufficient to at leastdegrade the starch and/or other complex carbohydrates present in thecorn-protein-containing material and/or the wet-mill stream to the pointwhere upon separation of the aqueous stream containing water solublecarbohydrates from the resulting corn protein concentrate, the aqueousstream has a higher concentration of water soluble carbohydrates thenthe wet-mill stream had prior to contacting the carbohydrases.

Exemplary temperatures that can be used to incubate the mixturecontaining the carbohydrases, wet-mill stream, andcorn-protein-containing material include from about 30 to about 250° F.(15-120° C.), and exemplary incubation times include from about ½ hoursto about 40 hrs. The incubation temperature and time depend on thestarting materials, enzymes, and the amount of enzymes used.

Separating the protein concentrate from the aqueous stream can beaccomplished by any method known in the art. For example, filtration,centrifugation, coagulation, and combinations thereof can be used.

It is also possible to increase the concentration of water-solublecarbohydrates in the aqueous stream by recycling, or reusing, theaqueous stream as one of the wet-mill streams used in the process.

The protein concentration of the resulting protein concentrate canadditionally be increased by rinsing the resulting concentrate withwater, and/or a wet-mill stream. The rinsing washes away residualcarbohydrates and increases the protein concentration on a dry basis.Using this technique the protein concentration can be increased by atleast 2, 5, 7, 10 or 20% on a dry basis.

Yet another way of increasing the concentration of protein in theprotein concentrate is to remove fats from the concentrate (defatting).Defatting can be accomplished using any method known in the art, forinstance by using one or more solvents and/or degrading the fats withenzymes. Examples of solvents that can be used include hexane,isohexane, alcohols and mixtures thereof. Examples of enzymes that canbe used include lipases and the like. The fats can subsequently beseparated from the protein concentrate using any method known in theart, for example filtration, floatation, and/or centrifugation.

Additionally, the protein concentrate can be decolorized by bleachingusing either chemical and/or enzymatic methods. Enzymes that can be usedto facilitate bleaching include those having lipoxygenase (LOX)activity, and peroxidase activity. Chemicals that can be used alone orin combination with enzymes to facilitate bleaching include ozone,persulfate and peroxides. The filtration of the protein concentrate canbe accomplished while the stream containing the protein is attemperatures of, for example, greater than 45° C., 50° C., 55° C., 60°C., 65° C., 80° C., or 100° C. This provides the advantage of being ableto control microbial growth and mycotoxin concentration during thefiltration process. The ability to use increased temperatures alsoallows enzyme activity to be modulated.

II. Uses of the Products

The resulting aqueous stream containing water-soluble carbohydratesand/or the protein concentrate can be used as the sole carbon andnitrogen source for various fermentations or it can be blended withother carbon sources to provide a cost efficient fermentation.

In some embodiments, the aqueous stream containing water-solublecarbohydrates can be concentrated to dry substance levels of about 60%and higher.

The products produced can also be used in feed applications for hogs ina liquid form or for cattle and poultry in a dried form.

The protein concentrate can be used in various animal feeds (includingbut not limited to farm animals, companion animals, fish, humans, andexotic animals) for improving the digestibility. The concentration ofprotein in the protein concentrate allows for the delivery of a desiredamount of protein without having to deliver a large volume of material.This lessens the amount of waste produced by the animal and cancontribute to digestibility improvement.

The protein concentrate can also be used as a food texturizer and flavormodulator in products that will be consumed by humans.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described inand apparent from the examples provided below.

EXAMPLES

Analytical Procedures:

Dry solids were determined by drying of the material at 103° C. using amethod adapted from Dutch standard method NEN 3332 and according to theofficial method AACC 44-15A of the American Association of CerealChemists.

Total and soluble protein content were determined according AACC method46-30 using the Dumas method by combustion of a sample at a minimaltemperature of 900° C. in pure oxygen and determination of nitrogenusing a thermal conductivity detector. For nitrogen to soluble or totalprotein conversion factor of 6.25 was used.

Starch content was determined by a method derived from AACC 76-13 andthe Megazyme kit method for starch. Samples were washed with ethanol toremove sugars. Solubilization of starch is achieved by cooking thesample in the presence of thermo stable ?-amylase followed byamyloglucosidase. The glucose formed is measured using glucoseoxidase/peroxidase reagent and measurement of the absorbance.

Total starch carbohydrates are determined by the previous method butwashing of sugars with ethanol is skipped. The difference between totalstarch carbohydrates and starch content results in the amount of solublesugars.

Sugars in Examples 1-9 were determined using a method derived from AACC80-05. The sugar content of the mill streams and the collected filtratewas determined by filtering each liquid fraction through a 0.45 micronWhatman syringe filter and injecting the liquid into an HPLC systemconsisting of an Aminex HPX-87H ion exclusion column (Bio-Rad, Hercules,Calif.) with a 0.01N sulfuric acid mobile phase eluded at 0.6 ml/min anda Waters model 410 Refractive index detector (Waters Corporation,Milford, Mass., USA). Analysis of the obtained information was madeusing Waters Millenium software. The sugar content was determined as thesum of the quantitation of glucose, fructose, maltose and maltotriosesugars standardized against the column.

Sugar DP profile and quantitation for Example 14 was based on using amethod derived from AACC 80-05. The water extractables were analyzed byfirst precipitating protein with sulfosalacylic acid and then ionexhanging with anion and cation resin, then by filtering each liquidfraction through a 0.45 micron Whatman syringe filter, and injecting theliquid into an HPLC system consisting of an silver ion exchange columnwith water as mobile phase and a refractive index detector. Analysis ofthe obtained information was made as the sum of the eluded peaks lessthan the degree of glucose polymerization (DP) of 14 standardizedagainst the column. The peak area sum % of sugars of DP 1-4 incomparison to DP 5-13 as compared to the totaled sum of peaks 1-13 werecompared.

Total or crude lipid content is determined using a method derived fromAACC 30-24, 30-20, 30-25 and EEC method L25/29 using a Soxtec extractioninstrument. A thimble containing a sample is immersed directly intoboiling petroleum-ether. The thimble is moved above the solvent to therinse-extraction step. Finally, after evaporation of the solvent, theresidue is weighted and the lipid content is calculated.

Organic acid content is determined by HPLC method using UV detection.

Ash is determined using a method derived from AACC 08-01 by wet-ashingof a sample at 900° C.

Phytate is determined in the sample by extraction of phytic acid andpurification using different techniques and analyzed quantitatively byHPLC using conductivity.

Example 1 Gluten Cake with Light Steep Water (Lab Procedure)

Experimental Procedures:

Heavy gluten slurry (HGS) and light steep water draw off (LSW) werecollected from two different European Cerestar corn wet millingfacilities (further referred to as CWM 1 and CWM 2). Dewatered corngluten cake (CG cake) was obtained by filtrating heavy gluten slurryover a Buchner filter or were collected directly from these corn wetmilling facilities. Heavy gluten slurry contains solubles that werereduced by this filtration step. The proximate composition of the millstreams is listed in Table 1-1. TABLE 1-1 Proximate composition of millstreams used. Dry solids Protein Mill Stream (%) (% db) Starch (% db)Sugars (% db) HGS CWM 1 15.7 60.7 20.8 4.5 CG cake CWM 1 34.1 63.3 20.91.5 CG cake CWM 2 41.1 68.0 11.4 2.9 LSW CWM 1 10.5 43.7 1.7 6.8 LSW CWM2 10.8 41.1 3.9 8.2

The dewatered corn gluten cake was mixed with light steep water (LSW) inratio of 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, 1:6, 1:7, and 1:8 (CG cake: LSW). Generally, asthe dry solid content increases the reaction times should be increasedto get sufficient destarching.

For clarity, the following description of the process is provided as itwas used for a sample having a ratio of 1:6 (CG cake:LSW). A mixture of1800 mL of freshly taken light corn steep water (dry solids content10.5-10.8%) and 300 g of dewatered corn gluten cake (35-40% of drysolids—see Table 1-1 for appropriate number) was stirred for 30 minutesat 50° C. At the end of this period the pH was adjusted with 10% (m/m)sodium hydroxide to pH 5.8-6.2. Liquefaction of the starch was achievedby adding 0.1% of thermostable ?-amylase (e.g. Termamyl™, Novozymes A/S,DK-2880 Bagsvaerd, Denmark) on dry matter basis to the slurry andheating at 95° C. for 15 minutes. The slurry was cooled to 60° C. andadjusting the pH to 4.7 with 10% (m/m) hydrochloric acid, 0.1% ofgluco-amylase (e.g. Glucostar 300 L, Dyadic International Inc., Jupiter,Fla., USA) on dry base added and incubation was continued for at leasttwo hours.

In one case, also 300 mg of phytase (Finase, AB Enzymes, Darmstadt,Germany) was added to the slurry and the temperature was then kept at50° C. for 2 hours. It was convenient to do this step at the same timeas the addition of gluco-amylase.

Then the mixture was filtered on a Buchner funnel under vacuum using aWattman 91 [Whatman PLC, Maidstone, Kent, UK] filter resulting in agluten cake and a filtrate.

The gluten cake was dried at 80° C. during 20 minutes. The filtrate wasevaporated on a rotary vacuum drier at 40(C and could easily beconcentrated to a dry solid content of about 70%.

The results of the composition of the products are summarized in Table1.2. TABLE 1.2 Results of corn gluten concentrate and filtrate of twodifferent corn wet mills (ratio 1:6) (All numbers on dry base) Corngluten concentrate Filtrate Component CWM 1 CWM 2 CWM 1 CWM 2 Starch 0.52 0.5 0.5 Total protein 68 75 30 35 Lipids 5 4 n.d. n.d. Sugars 3 3 1530 Phytate 1 1 3 3 Organic acids 9 4 30 18 Crude fiber 10 8 n.d. n.d.Ash 3.5 3 22 11

Dewatering heavy gluten slurry results in a gluten cake containing ahigher protein content. After liquefaction and saccharification the cakeconsisting of the corn gluten concentrate has a higher dry solid content(40-45% range) compared to the starting CG cake (35-40%). Differences inthe composition of LSW and CG cake also results in somewhat differentcomposition of both the protein concentrates and filtrate. Compared tothe evaporation of steep water, these filtrates can be easily evaporatedto a higher dry solid content to 60-70%. This is much higher then withheavy corn steep liquor that usually can be concentrated in the range of45 to 50% of dry solids. Composition of these filtrates is differentcompared to steep water: less proteins (30-35%) and more sugars (15 to30%) depending on the composition of the starting LSW (40% proteins andup to 15% sugars).

Example 2 Enzymatic Bleaching of Heavy Gluten Slurry

Experimental Procedures:

In these experiments untoasted full fat soy flour (Provaflor) fromCargill, Ghent (Belgium) containing active lipoxygenase (LOX) was addedat different levels to heavy gluten slurry (HGS).

Bleaching of xanthophylls in HGS was carried out at room temperature. Aportion of 75 g heavy gluten slurry was weighed into a 200 ml beaker.Water was added (10 ml) to dilute the slurry and the pH was adjusted to6.5 by adding dropwise 1.0 M NaOH. Then soy flour was added at 5 and 15%levels for heavy gluten (w/w, db) and the mixture was incubated for 1hour at 40° C. During incubation the slurry was stirred at 2000 rpmusing a magnetic stirrer with a stirrer bar and air was passedcontinuously through the slurry using an aquarium and pond air pump.Upon completion of the reaction, the pH of the slurry was immediatelyreadjusted below 2.5 by adding 1.0 M HCl to stop enzyme activity.Finally, the samples were lyophilized and analyzed for xanthophyllsusing a spectrophotometric method. TABLE 2-1 Results of xanthophyllslevel using full fat soy flour. HGS freeze 5% soy 15% soy Product driedflour flour Xanthophylls content 162 63 40 (ppm) Colour level compared100% 38% 25% to freeze dried HGSResults/Discussion:

At an addition level of 5% soy flour (w/w, db) 62% of xanthophylls inthe heavy gluten slurry were bleached whereas 75% were bleached at asubstitution level of 15% soy flour (calculated against the freeze driedstarting material).

For those skilled in the art it is clear that the same procedure can beused starting from the dewatered gluten cake and that LSW, millstream,or demi-water needs to be added then to have a slurry that can beoxygenated in an appropriate way.

Example 3 Enzymatic Bleaching of Heavy Gluten Slurry

Experimental Procedures:

Heavy gluten slurry (HGS) was collected from two different Cerestar cornwet milling facilities (further referred to as CWM1 and CWM2). The sameprocedure can be applied on CG cake but for convenience of trials heavygluten slurry was used. The proximate composition of the heavy glutenslurry is listed in Table 3-1. TABLE 3-1 Proximate composition of heavygluten slurry used. Dry solids Protein Starch Crude lipids XanthophyllsPlant (%) (% db) (% db) (% db) (ppm) CWM 1 15.7 60.7 20.8 6.7 215 CWM 212.2 60.4 12.5 8.4 217

Heavy gluten slurry was adjusted to pH between 5.8 to 6.2 and 0.1% ofthermostable ?-amylase (e.g. Termamyl 120 L from Novozymes A/S, DK-2880Bagsvaerd, Denmark)) was added on dry matter base at ambienttemperature. This mixture was pumped at a flow rate of 80 L/h throughthe liquefaction unit with a steam injector operating at steam pressureof 7.5 bar. Product pressure was 10 bar at 100° C. and mixture had aholding time of 15 minutes (back pressure of 1 bar).

Bleaching is preferentially conducted before liquefaction. After coolingto ambient temperature the pH of the mixture was adjusted to about 6.5to 7. Freshly produced full fat soy flour (Provaflor, Cargill Ghent) wasadded to the heavy gluten in a 5% amount based on the dry matter of theheavy gluten. Bleaching was conducted in a Belginox reactor with waterheater and circulation in 300 kg batches. Conditions were as follows:stirring at 50 rpm, temperature 40° C. and air bubbling at 3 barpressure rate during at least one hour. It was found out that increasingthe time of bubbling had an improved bleaching result.

The liquefact was collected in a 600-litre tank and cooled to about 60°C. The pH was adjusted between 4.6 and 4.8 and 0.1% of gluco-amylase(e.g. Glucostar 300 L from Dyadic International Inc., Jupiter, Fla.,USA) on dry matter base was added. Incubation time varied depending onthe scale from 2 to 15 hours.

In order to filter the hydrolyzed starch sugars, the reacted slurry wasdiluted with about the same amount of demi water at 60° C. beforepumping to the leaf filtration unit at a rate between 250 to 300 L/h.Filtration was continued till the pressure was 12 bar. The last step inthe filtration operation was the supply of pressured air of 5 to 6 barto the filter press to dry the cake until no more filtrate left thepress.

The gluten cake of about 40% dry solids was dried on either a fluid beddryer or a ring dryer till about over 90% of dry solids. With the fluidbed dryer operated at 70° C. of drying air some coarser product wasobtained. The ring dryer feeding rate was adjusted manually to obtain apowder of about 90% of dry solids.

Ten different batches of corn gluten concentrates were made and theanalytical composition is summarized in Table 3-2. TABLE 3-2 Results ofanalytical composition of different batches of bleached corn glutenconcentrate. Dry solids Protein Starch Crude lipids Xanthophylls Batch(%) (% db) (% db) (% db) (ppm) CWM 1-1 95.3 75.3 0.1 10.1 154 CWM 1-295.1 77.5 0.2 9.9 155 CWM 1-3 96.7 77.6 <0.5 10.0 130 CWM 1-4 94.3 75.30.8 10.0 152 CWM 1-5 93.6 75.0 0.8 9.5 147 Average 1-5 95.0 76.1 0.4 9.9148 CWM 2-6 93.6 80.0 0.2 10.1 163 CWM 2-7 91.1 76.7 0.8 10.6 159 CWM2-8 93.6 81.5 0.4 10.1 206 CWM 2-9 95.4 79.2 0.1 10.3 127 CWM 2-10 94.377.1 0.8 10.6 118 Average 6-10 93.6 78.9 0.5 10.3 155Results/Discussion:

With lab scale degree of bleaching between 60 to 70% was obtained, thepilot plant trials resulted in products with about 5-35% of bleaching.Corn gluten concentrates bleaching according the pilot plant methodresulted in xanthophylls levels of about 150 ppm.

Resulting products had protein levels above 75% on dry base and starchcontent below 0.5%. After de-starching and due to addition of full fatsoy flour, the lipid levels of the resulting corn gluten concentratesare clearly higher compared to the starting heavy gluten slurries.

Example 4 Coagulation Procedure

Experimental Procedures

Dewatered corn gluten cake (CG cake) and light steep water draw off(LSW) were collected from a European Cerestar corn wet milling facility.Samples of these streams were mixed in a ratio of 1:3.85 (CG cake:LSW)(about 15 (m/m)% db) at a temperature of 50° C. with a residence time of30 minutes. Dry solids of LSW and CG cake were measured.

Liquefaction was started after adjusted the pH to 5.8-6.2 using 10(m/m)% NaOH. Termamyl™ (Novozymes A/S, DK-2880 Bagsvaerd, Denmark) wasadded to the mixture (0.1 (m/m)% on dry basis), the temperature wasincreased to 100° C. Once the temperature was above 93° C., the 15minutes residence time started.

For saccharification the mixture was cooled to 60° C. and the pH wasadjusted to 4.7 and 0.1 (m/m)% dry base of gluco-amylase Glucostar 300 L(Dyadic International Inc., Jupiter, Fla., USA) was added and theresulting mixture was incubated for 120 minutes.

Coagulation was accomplished by adjusting the pH of aliquots of theliquefied and saccharified slurry by using either 4M HCl or using a 10(m/m)% sodium hydroxide solution to adjust the pH ranging from 4.5 to6.0 in steps of 0.5 while stirring. Separation of the unsoluble fractionfrom the solubles was achieved by filtration on a Buchner funnel undervacuum using a Wattman 91 [Whatman PLC, Maidstone, Kent, UK] filter.Yields of filtrate and cake were determined and dry solids content wasdetermined with an IR balance. A gluten cake with about 40% of drysolids was obtained. The protein content and amount of precipitate weredetermined. The filtrate was evaporated under vacuum (at least 30 mbar)on 40° C. in rotary evaporator. The cake of the wet corn glutenconcentrate (˜40% dry solids) is cut over a 1 mm sieve and dried in 20minutes in a laboratory fluid bed drier on 80° C. maximum.

The resulting products were analyzed and the results of the coagulationexperiments were summarized in Table 4-1. TABLE 4-1 Results ofcoagulation experiments Soluble Protein Insoluble pH Dry base ((m/m)Protein Total Protein Coagu- yield (%) % db) ((m/m) % db) (m/m) % db(Col 1) * lation (Col 1) (Col 2) (Col 3) (Col 4) (Col 3) % 4.5 88.7 13.955.6 69.5 49.3 5.0 87.0 7.3 61.6 68.9 53.6 5.5 87.7 7.4 62.9 70.3 55.26.0 90.0 15.7 51.5 67.2 46.3Results/Discussion:

It is clear that at pH between 5 to 5.5 yields are higher compared to4.5 or 6.0.

Example 5 Gluten Cake Re-Suspended with Corn Gluten Dewatering Filtrateor Light Steepwater Liquefied and Saccharified

Experimental Procedures:

Dewatered corn gluten cake (CG cake), corn gluten dewatering filtrate(CG filtrate), and light steepwater (LSW) were collected from a NorthAmerican Cargill, Inc. wet milling facility. The proximate compositionof the three mill streams is listed in Table 5-1. TABLE 5-1 Proximatecomposition of mill streams used. Mill Stream Dry solids (%) Protein (%db) Sugars (% db) CG cake 38.9 70.9 9.0 CG filtrate 2.3 65.8 15.1 LSW8.2 43.8 23.0

Three different mixtures of CG cake were made with water, CG filtrate,or LSW. Three different mixtures of cake and liquid were made bycombining 693 grams cake with either: 1) 1340 grams of water, 2) 1449grams of LSW, or 3) 1372 grams of CG filtrate. To each of the threemixtures an amount of 16% (w/w) sodium hydroxide was added to adjust thepH of the mixture to 5.6. To each mixture, alpha-amylase (Fred L fromGenencor, Beloit, Wis., USA) was then added at an amount of 0.065% (w/w)per dry solids of the mixture and mixed into the mixtures. Each mixturewas then placed in a separate 4-liter plastic jar and incubated in a 90°C. water bath for 3 hours. Each jar was mixed approximately every 15minutes by shaking. After the 3 hours of incubation were complete, eachof the 3 jars was cooled to 60° C. in a cold water bath and a sufficientamount of 11% sulfuric acid was added to each mixture to adjust the pHto 4.3. To each mixture, Optimax 4060VHP glucoamylase (Genencor, Beloit,Wis., USA) was added at an amount of 0.065% (w/w) per dry solids contentto each mixture. Each mixture was then placed in a shaking incubator at60° C. for a period of 40 hours. After the 40 hours of incubation, eachjar of each mixture was cooled to 30° C. in a cold water bath. Therein,each mixture was vacuum filtered using a Whatman #3 paper (Whatman,Clifton, N.J., USA) sufficient to produce a cake of approximately 35%dry solids and the filtrate was collected. An amount of waterapproximately equal to the cake mass was added on the surface of thecake as it became visually dewatered.

Each of the obtained cakes were dried in a 103° C. air oven. Theparticle size of the cake was reduced by grinding in a coffee grinderand protein content was determined. The sugar content of the millstreams and the collected filtrate from the three mixtures wasdetermined. TABLE 5-2 Results of Products Obtained Product Mixture %Protien (db) % Sugars (db) Cake CG cake + distilled water 85.45 —Filtrate CG cake + distilled water 15.8 76.8 Cake CG cake + CG filtrate86.7 — Filtrate CG cake + CG filtrate 23.5 63.5 Cake CG cake + LSW 84.7— Filtrate CG cake + LSW 40.3 33.3Results/Discussion:

From comparing the composition of the initial millstreams presented inTable 5-1 and the composition of the final products obtained from eachof the initial three mixtures presented in Table 5-2, it is apparentthat the protein content of the corn gluten cake was increased fromabout 70.9% (db) to about 85.5% (db) for the water mixture, to about86.7% (db) for the CG filtrate mixture, and to about 84.7% (db) for theLSW mixture. Additionally, the sugar content of the CG filtrate liquidstream was increased from about 15.1% (db) to about 63.5% (db), and thesugar content of the LSW filtrate stream was increased from about 23.0%(db) to about 33.3% (db). From this data it is apparent that thisinvention can be used to increase the protein content of CG cake whilealso increasing the sugar content of another water or mill stream mixedwith and then later separated from the CG cake.

Example 6 Liquefaction of Clarifier Centrifuge Underflow with VariousMill Streams

Experimental Procedures:

Clarifier centrifuge underflow (ClrUF), gluten thickener centrifugeoverflow (GTOF), corn gluten dewatering filtrate (CG filtrate), andlight steepwater draw off (LSW) was collected from a North AmericanCargill, Inc. wet milling facility. The ClrUF was dewatered and formedinto a cake of 29.8% solids by vacuum filtering over a Whatman #3 filterpaper. The proximate composition of the ClrUF cake and the other threemill streams is listed in Table 6-1. TABLE 6-1 Proximate composition ofmill streams used. Mill Stream Dry solids (%) Protein (% db) Sugars (%db) ClrUF cake 29.8 6.6 10.5 GTOF 2.4 60.1 25.4 CG filtrate 2.3 65.815.1 LSW 8.2 43.8 23.0

A mixture of ClrUF cake and GTOF was made by mixing an amount of 1131grams cake with 1500 grams of GTOF. The ClrUF cake and GTOF mixture wasadjust to pH 5.60 by adding 7.73 g of 16% (w/w) sodium hydroxide. To themixture, an amount of 360 microliters of Fred L alpha-amylase (Genencor,Beloit, Wis., USA) was then added and mixed into the mixture. Themixture was then placed in a 4 liter plastic jar and incubated in a 90°C. waterbath for 2 hours. A mixing impeller was submerged into themixture within the jar, connected to a variable speed drive, and rotatedat approximately 200 rpm. After the 2 hours of incubation were complete,the jar was cooled to 30° C. in a cold water bath. Therein, the mixturewas vacuum filtered over a Whatman #3 paper, Whatman, Clifton, N.J.,USA, sufficient to produce a cake of approximately 30% dry solids andthe filtrate was collected. Five different cakes where produced. Thefirst cake was vacuumed filtered only and filtrate was collected withoutwash water addition. The second cake was similarly filtered and thenwashed with an amount of water approximately equal mass to the cake masswas added on the surface of the cake as it became visually void ofliquid water. The third, fourth, and fifth millstreams were similarlyfiltered and washed with GTOF, CG filtrate, and LSW, respectively.

Each of the obtained cakes were placed dried in an 103° C. air oven. Theparticle size of the cake was reduced by grinding in a in a coffeegrinder and protein content was determined

The sugar content of the millstreams and the collected filtrate wasmeasured. TABLE 6-2 Results of Products Obtained Millstream Used forProduct Wash % Protein (db) % Sugars (db) Cake None added 41.4 —Filtrate None added 5.2 68.3 Cake distilled water (control) 63.9 — CakeGTOF 60.6 — Filtrate GTOF 5.7 25.8 Cake CG filtrate 59.6 — Filtrate CGfiltrate 3.7 25.3 Cake LSW 60.4 — Filtrate LSW 6.9 33.6Results/Discussion:

From comparing the composition of the initial millstreams presented inTable 6-1 and the composition of the final products obtained aspresented in Table 6-2, it is apparent that the protein content of theClrUF cake was increased during practice of the invention from about6.6% (db) to about 41.4% (db) with practice of the invention and when awashing step was not performed, and to about 63.9% (db) when wash waterat an about an equal mass as the mass of the cake was added to the cakeduring filtering. When millstreams were used to wash the cake, theprotein content of the cake was increased to about 60.6% (db) with theGTOF wash, to about 59.6% (db) with the CG filtrate wash, and to about60.4% (db) with the LSW wash. Additionally, the sugar content of theGTOF which was captured as liquid stream/filtrate stream from theinvention was increased from about 25.4% (db) to about 68.3% (db)without any wash. The protein content of the filtrate also varied withthe use of different mill streams used for washing. From this data it isapparent that this invention can be used to increase the protein contentof the ClrUF mill stream while also increasing the sugar content ofanother mill stream mixed with and then later separated from the ClrUFcake, with or without the addition of another millstream or same usedfor washing the concentrated protein cake. The final sugar content ofthe filtrate from the process can be raised or lowered by the sugarcontent of the wash stream. Use of water for washing did not introduceother solubles into the filtrate thus preserving the sugar content ofthe stream. However, when GTOF or CG Filtrate with a lower sugar content(% db) were used, the final sugar content of the filtrate was reduced.

The wash stream used for washing the cake influenced the final proteincontent of the cake. It is obvious from Table 6-2 that a washing stepincreases the final protein of the cake as no washing step produced acake with only 41.4% protein, but use of any of the other streamsproduced a cake of approximately 60% protein or greater. Water, whichhas no non-protein solubles, produced the highest protein cake of 63.9%(db). Other streams, which contain solubles other than protein, producedlower protein cakes (59.6-60.6% db protein). These results show that thefinal protein content of the produced cake can be controlled by theprotein content and non-protein dry matter content of the liquid used towash the cake.

Example 7 Saccharification of Filtrate from a Liquefied Sample

Experimental Procedures:

The filtrate obtained from example 6 after filtering and without washingwas further saccharified. To the filtrate a sufficient amount of 11%sulfuric acid was added to adjust the pH to 4.3. An amount 0.065% (w/w)per dry solids content of the filtrate of Optimax 4060VHP glucoamylase,Genencor, Beloit, Wis., USA, was added to the filtrate. The filtrate wasthen placed in a shaking incubator at 60° C. for a period of 40 hours.

The sugar content of the millstreams and the collected filtrate weremeasured. TABLE 7-1 Sugar Content of Filtrate before and afterSaccharification Mill Stream Sugar (% db) Initial 68.3 Saccharified 91.5Results/Discussion:

Saccharification with glucoamylase increased the concentration of sugarin the filtrate from about 68.3% (db) to about 91.5% (db), measured asthe sum of glucose, fructose, maltose, and maltotriose Table 7-1. Thusindicating that larger chained carbohydrates can be isolated from a millstream containing gluten by only liquifying and filtering away thegluten protein. These carbohydrates were then more fully hydrolyzed tosmaller sugars measured by the HPLC using a saccharification step afterseparation from the gluten protein.

Example 8 Growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on Filtrate

Experimental Procedures:

One milliliter of a 24 hour Saccharomyces cerevisiae culture wasinoculated into basal media containing 5 g/L peptone and 3 g/L yeastextract and 16 (Glucose A) or 50 g/L (Glucose B) of D-glucose(Sigma-Aldrich Co., St. Louis, Mo.) or prototype mill stream productadded to generate starting glucose concentrations of 25 (Experimental A)or 45 g/L (Experimental B). The prototype product examined was thesaccharified filtrate resulting from Example 7. Cultures were incubatedat 30(C with 100 rpm shaking. Samples were taken after 0, 18 and 44 hand optical density at 595 nm was measured. Organic acid and ethanolprofiles were quantitated by HPLC using an Aminex HPX-87H ion exclusioncolumn (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.) with a 0.01N sulfuric acid mobilephase. TABLE 8-1 Optical Density and Ethanol yield of Fermented GlucoseControl and Filtrate. O.D. 595 - T18 % Ethanol yield - T44 Glucose A14.82 43.22 Glucose B 14.88 44.42 Experimental A 18.33 45.72Experimental B 15.72 44.49

Optical density measured at 595 nm after 18 hours and ethanol yieldafter 44 h of S. cerevisiae growth. The Glucose A culture contained 17g/L glucose and the Glucose B culture contained 50 g/L glucose in thebasal peptone and yeast extract media. The Experimental culturescontained basal medium plus the prototype material normalized to 25 g/L(A) and 45 g/L glucose (B).

Results/Discussion:

Experiments were set up to examine fermentability of the prototypemillstream product. Fermentability in this study was defined ascapability of the feedstock to support growth of S. cerevisiae andsustain product formation, in this case ethanol. The prototype material,as indicated by optical density measurements in Table 5-1, supportedcell growth. In addition, dextrose was fully utilized in all culturesafter 44 h, indicating fermentation occurred. Ethanol yields on theprototype material were between 44 and 46%, which is near 90% of themaximum theoretical yield (50%). Thus, the prototype material wascapable of supporting S. cerevisiae growth and ethanol production.

The prototype product, a filtrate resulting from liquified andsaccharified clarifier underflow cake resuspended with gluten thickeneroverflow, was able to support S. cerevisiae growth and ethanolproduction at different starting glucose concentrations.

Example 9 Gluten Cake Re-Slurried with Saccharified Filtrate and SampleLiquefied and Saccharified

Dewatered corn gluten cake (CG cake), same as used in Example 5, wascollected from a North American Cargill, Inc. wet milling facility. Thecake was mixed with the saccharified filtrate without washwater addition(sacc'd filtrate) produced in Example 7. The proximate composition ofthe CG cake and sacc'd filtrate are listed in Table 9-1. TABLE 9-1Proximate composition of mill streams used. Mill Stream Dry solids (%)Protein (% db) Sugars (% db) CG cake 38.9 70.9 9.0 Sacc'd filtrate 22.94.8 91.5

An amount of 100 grams CG cake was mixed with 250 grams of sacc'dfiltrate produced in Example 7. To the mixture an amount of 16% (w/w)sodium hydroxide was added to adjust the pH of the mixture to 5.60. Anamount of 40 micoliters of alpha-amylase (Fred L from Genencor, Beloit,Wis., USA) was then added and mixed into the mixture. The mixture wasthen placed in a 0.5 liter plastic jar and incubated in a 90° C.waterbath for 3 hours. A mixing impeller was submerged into the mixturewithin the jar, connected to a variable speed drive, and rotated atapproximately 200 rpm. After the 2 hours of incubation were complete,the mixture was cooled to 60° C. in a cold water bath and a sufficientamount of 11% sulfuric acid was added to each mixture to adjust the pHto 4.30. An amount of 40 microliters of Optimax 4060VHP glucoamylase(Genencor, Beloit, Wis., USA) was added to the mixture. The mixture wasthen placed in a shaking incubator at 60° C. for a period of 40 hours.After the 40 hours of incubation, the mixture was cooled to 30° C. in acold water bath. Therein, the mixture was vacuum filtered using aWhatman #3 paper (Whatman, Clifton, N.J., USA) sufficient to produce acake of approximately 32% dry solids and the filtrate was collected. Anamount of water approximately equal to the cake mass was added on thesurface of the cake as it became visually dewatered.

The obtained cake was dried in a 103° C. air oven. The particle size ofthe cake was reduced by grinding in a in a coffee grinder and proteincontent was determined. The sugar content of the mill streams and thecollected filtrate from the three mixtures was determined. TABLE 9-2Results of Products Obtained Product % Protein (db) % Sugars (db) Cake84.4 10.9 Filtrate 4.9 93.3Results/Discussion:

From comparing the composition of the initial millstreams presented inTable 9-1 and the composition of the final products obtained from eachof the initial three mixtures presented in Table 9-2, it is apparentthat the protein content of the corn gluten cake was increased fromabout 70.9% (db) to about 84.4% (db). Additionally, the sugar content ofthe sacc'd filtrate liquid stream was increased from about 91.5% (db) toabout 93.3% (db). The sugar content of the filtrate was similar beforeand after addition of the washing step using water (data not shown),indicating that a high level of pure sugar is retained in the cake andthat its removal can be manipulated with the amount of washingperformed. From this data it is apparent that this invention can be usedto increase the protein content of CG cake while also increasing thesugar content of another water or mill stream mixed with and then laterseparated from the CG cake. As presented in this example, this millstream may be a recycled filtrate stream obtained from filtration of thefinal CG cake product.

Example 10 Treatment of Gluten with Mixtures of Carbohydrases andFurther Contact with Solvents

Gluten thickener underflow (GT u/f) and millstream thickener overflow(MST o/f) samples were collected from a Cargill, Inc. wet millingfacility (USA). Partially dewatered gluten was prepared by high speedcentrifuging GT u/f samples at 4000 rpm for 5 minutes in a laboratorycentrifuge. An amount of 400 g of the partially dewatered gluten wasthen combined with 2267 g of MST o/f to create a gluten mixture. Thegluten mixture was mixed in a Waring blender at full speed for 3minutes. This mixture had a starting protein content of about 67%, drybasis (db). The gluten mixture was split into seven equal portions. Twoportions of the gluten mixture were sieved over either a 325 mesh (45micron opening) or a 200 mesh (75 micron opening) US standard sieves toremove components of low protein composition from the mixture; thefiltrate was collected and used for further treatment with carbohydraseswhile the retentate (sieve overs) was discarded. The seven portions,including the 2 sieved filtrates were then pH adjusted and treated withcarbohydrase(s), filtered, dried, and optionally defatted.

Each of the gluten mixtures was liquefied with alpha-amylase. To eachportion of the gluten mixture a sufficient amount of 10% (w/w) sodiumhydroxide was added to adjust the pH of the gluten to 6.0. An amount of40 microliters of alpha-amylase (Fred L from Genencor, Beloit, Wis.,USA) was then added and mixed by stirring each mixture. Each mixtureplaced in a 1 liter plastic jars and incubated in a 90° C. waterbath for2 hours. A mixing impeller was submerged into each mixture within thejar, connected to a variable speed drive, and rotated at approximately200 rpm. One mixture was cooled incubated for an additional 12 hrs aslisted below (sample: Liquefy Only). Six of the Liquefied mixtures wherethen cooled and either further treated by saccharifying and/or treatedwith fiber degrading enzymes (hemicellulase).

The remaining six mixtures were cooled to 60° C. in a cold water bathand a sufficient amount of 11% sulfuric acid was added to each mixtureto adjust the pH to 4.2. Five of the mixtures were saccharified byadding an amount of 40 microliters of Optimax 4060VHP glucoamylase(Genencor, Beloit, Wis., USA) and holding at elevated temperatures asdescribed below. To the mixture not treated with the glucoamylase, 20microliters of each of the fiber degrading enzymes of Spezyme CP,Xylanase 729, and Phytase GC491 (Genencor, Beloit, Wis., USA) were added(sample: Liquefy and hemicellulase and phytase). The mixtures were thenplaced in a waterbath at 60° C. for 2 hrs. After 1 hour, 1 of themixtures originally treated with the glucoamylase was additionallytreated with the fiber degrading enzymes mixture as listed above(Liquefy then sacc and hemicellulase and phytase). One mixture treatedwith glucoamylase was cooled and filtered as below (Liquefy and sacc (2hr)). The other five mixtures and the sixth mixture originally onlyliquefied were then held at 45° C. for 10 additional hours.

After carbohydrase treatments, all the mixtures treated withcarbohydrases and optionally phytase were vacuum filtered at 45° C.using a Whatman #3 paper (Whatman, Clifton, N.J., USA) sufficient toproduce a cake of approximately 30-35% dry solids and the filtrate wascollected. An amount of water approximately equal to the cake mass wasadded on the surface of the cake as it became visually dewatered.

The obtained cake was dried in a 103° C. air. The particle size of thecake was reduced by grinding in a in a coffee grinder.

Samples were defatted by contacting the samples' cakes with eitherhexane (Defat#1) or with petroleum ether (Defat#2). Samples weresubmersed in excess solvent for a period of 2 hrs at ambient temperaturein 50 ml tubes that were rotated (tumbled). Solvent was filtered fromthe samples by vacuum over a glass fiber filter. Retained sample was airoven dried at 103° C. for 10 hrs. Protein contents were measured asbelow. Petroleum ether treatment further bleached the samples andresulted in a lighter color protein product. Protein contents resultingfrom defatting treatments after carbohydrase treatments are shown inTable 10-1.

Protein content of the dried cakes were measured before and afterdefatting. TABLE 10-1 Protein Content of a mixture of GT u/f and MST o/fafter Carbohydrase Treatments and optionally Sieving and Defatting.Protein after Protein after Protein after Carbohydrase treatment andtreatment and Carbohydrase Treatment Defat#1 (% db) Defat#2 (% db)Treatment (% db) (difference^(a)) (difference^(a)) Liquefy (14 hr) 87.80— — Liquefy and 88.92 91.34 91.52 hemicellulase and (2.42) (2.6) phytaseLiquefy and sacc 86.47 90.83 91.34 (2 hr) (4.36) (4.87) Liquefy and sacc88.47 91.73 91.93 (12 hr) (3.26) (3.46) #200 wire sieve 88.44 90.9991.79 throughs, liquefy (2.55) (3.35) and sacc #325 wire sieve 89.1891.86 93.09 throughs, liquefy (2.68) (3.91) and sacc Liquefy then sacc88.93 92.00 92.48 and hemicellulase (3.07) (3.55) and phytase

Difference between protein content of filtered and dried gluten aftercarbohydrase treatment (with or without phytase inclusion) (column 2)and after solvent treatment (column 3:Defat#1 or column4:Defat#2) islisted in parenthesis in each column.

Results/Discussion:

From comparing the original composition of the initial gluten mixture tothe protein contents of the mixtures after practice of the invention aspresented in Table 10-1, it is apparent that the protein content of thegluten mixture was increased from about 67% (db) to at least about86.47% (db) with carbohydrase treatment and up to about 93.09% (db) withsieving and further defatting. Liquefying the gluten mixture increasedthe protein content from about 67% (db) to about 87.80% (db). Additionof hemicellulases and phytases in addition to liquefaction increasedprotein content to about 88.92% (db). Saccharifying the liquefied samplefor 12 hr increased protein to about 88.47% (db). The protein content ofthe 2 hr liquefaction with a 2 hr saccharification treatment did notequal a 14 hr liquefaction treatment, but the 86.47% (db) protein wassubstantially greater than the 67% protein content starting glutenmixture. Longer saccharification times increased protein content.Liquefying, saccharifying, then treatment with hemicellulases andphytase resulted in about 88.93% (db) protein.

Sieving the gluten mixture over a #325 wire US sieve prior to liquefyingand saccharifying increased the protein content to about 89.18% (db).Defatting the carbohydrase (phytase) treated gluten with hexane orpetroleum ether always resulted in an increase in the protein contentabove and beyond the carbohydrased treated gluten's protein content onan average of about 3.06% and about 3.62% higher protein content forDefat#1 and Defat#2, respectively.

From this data it is apparent that this invention can be used toincrease the protein content of a mixture of GT u/f and MST o/f. Theprotein content can be further increased after treatment withcarbohydrases by contact of the product with a solvent. The type ofsolvent has an impact on the final protein product. Sieving the glutenmixture also increased protein content.

Example 11 Gluten Cake Slurried with Liquefied Starch, Liquefied andFiltered at Various Temperatures

Dewatered corn gluten cake (CG cake) was collected from a EuropeanCerestar, Inc. wet milling facility. An amount of 58 kg CG cake of 40%dry solids was mixed with 98 kg of liquefied starch (32.3% dry solids)to create a gluten-mixture.

The liquefied starch had been previously prepared by mixing corn starchproduced from a European Cerestar, wet milling facility with asufficient amount of water to create a 32.3% dry solids concentration,adding 150 PPM calcium chloride, adjusting pH to 5.6 with 10% sodiumhydroxide, adding 0.1% alpha-amylase (Fred L from Genencor, Beloit,Wis., USA), and then heating to 95° C. and holding for 4 hours.

The gluten-mixture was blended with a blending type mixer. Thegluten-mixture was liquefied by adding an amount of 16% (w/w) sodiumhydroxide to adjust the pH of the mixture to 5.6 and then adding anamount of 42 g of alpha-amylase (Fred L from Genencor, Beloit, Wis.,USA) that was mixed into the mixture. The gluten mixture was furthermixed using a high-speed centrifugal pump that pumped the mixturethrough a heat exchanger to heat the gluten mixture to 95° C. Themixture was then placed in a 600 L stirred tank vessel to which 42 gmore alpha-amylase was added. The mixture was incubated with stirring at90-95° C. for about 3.5 hours.

After liquefaction, the mixture was transferred to a rotary drum vacuumfilter fitted with Komline Sanderson KS-201 cloth (Komline-SandersonEngineering Corporation, Peapack, N.J., USA) operating at 73 meters/hourlinear cloth speed. The gluten mixture was filtered at the incubatingtemperature of 90° C. in one trial. In a second trial the gluten mixturewas cooled to 20° C. using a tube-in-shell heat exchanger (water usedfor heat absorption) before filtering. A concentrated protein cake wasformed and discharged from the cloth. Cake moisture and protein resultsare shown in Table 11-1.

The cake discharged from the drum filter was dried in a 103° C. air ovenand dry solids were measured. The particle size of the cake was reducedby grinding in a coffee grinder and protein content was determined.TABLE 11-1 Results of Concentrated Protein Cake Obtained using DifferentFiltration Temperatures Filtration Cake % Cake Temperature (° C.) DrySolids (%) Protein (db) 20 31.1 70.6 90 32.4 66.8Results/Discussion:

The gluten mixture was successfully filtered at either 20° C. and atliquefaction temperature (90° C.) to produce a protein product.Filtering the liquefied gluten mixture at high temperatures, such as 90°C. or at 45° C. and above, provides the benefit of inhibiting microbialgrowth and energy savings for heat exchanging and drying. Corn gluten istypically filtered at temperatures less than 40° C. This protein productwas unexpectedly filterable at higher temperatures.

Example 12 Increasing Protein Content with Multiple Filtration andWashing Steps

The dewatered concentrated protein cake produced in example 11 wascollected as it discharged from the drum filter. About 500 g cake wassuspended in 1000 g water by mixed with an impeller that was submergedinto the mixture, connected to a variable speed drive, and rotated atapproximately 1000 rpm. The suspended cake and water mixture wastransferred to and vacuum filtered using a Whatman #3 paper (Whatman,Clifton, N.J., USA) sufficient to produce a cake of approximately 38%dry solids filtered using a vacuum filter, and washed with surfaceapplication of about 200 g water. The obtained cake was dried in a 103°C. air oven. The particle size of sub-samples of the cake was reduced bygrinding in a coffee grinder and protein content was determined. Resultsare presented in Table 12-1: TABLE 12-1 Results of Products Obtainedbefore and after Washing Product % Protein (db) Filtered Cake fromExample 11 70.6 Washed Protein Material 83.4Results/Discussion:

It is evident that a quantity of non-protein containing material residedin the concentrated protein cake after the first drum filtration step.This material could be removed with a second suspension in water and awashing and a higher, more concentrated protein product was produced.The protein content of the product can be manipulated by the amount andtype of washing steps followed. Washing can be effectively performed bysecondary washing steps involving the suspension in a liquid containingless sugar and higher sugar/oligosaccharide concentration than theconcentrated protein cake contained.

Example 13 Gluten Cake Re-Slurried with Recycled (Reused) Filtrate andSample Liquefied

Dewatered corn gluten cake (CG cake) was collected from a EuropeanCerestar, wet milling facility. An amount of 58 kg cake of about 40% drysolids was mixed with 98 kg of filtrate obtained from rotary drumfiltering the liquefied protein concentrated cake from example 11. Thecake and filtrate were mixed, liquefied, and filtered as in example 11except that filtrate was used instead of starch liquefact. Additionally,the mixture was incubated at 90° C. for about 3.5 hours and filtered at45° C. after cooling the liquefied mixture with the heat exchanger asdescribed in Example 11.

The obtained cake was dried in a 103° C. air oven. The particle size ofthe cake was reduced by grinding in a coffee grinder and protein contentwas determined. TABLE 13-1 Results of Products Obtained before and afterWashing Product Cake Dry Solids (%) % Protein (db) CG cake 38.0 67.8Liquefied and filtered cake 32.3 73.7Results and Discussion:

From this data it is apparent that this invention can be used toincrease the protein content of CG cake and to produce a concentratedprotein product. As presented in this example, this millstream may be arecycled filtrate stream obtained from filtration of the liquefiedprotein produced in a previous run or trial. This process can beintegrated to be a continuous recycling of filtrate from the drum orother filtering or other separating unit to suspend or mix with thegluten cake entering the process.

Example 14 Control of Sugars in Protein Product

Dewatered corn gluten cake (CG cake) was collected from a North AmericanCargill, Inc. wet milling facility. The cake of 40% dry solids andapproximately 70% protein was suspended into a mixture with either wateror a mixture of liquefied starch and water. The liquefied starch wasmade as in Example 11. To create a mixture of cake and water(cake+water), an amount of 58 kg cake was added to 98 kg water. Tocreate a mixture of cake and starch liquefact (cake+starch liquefact),an amount of about 62 kg of cake was added to 41 kg of 32% ds liquefiedstarch and 47 kg of water. The cake and water or filtrate and water weremixed, liquefied, and filtered as described in Example 11, except thatthe mixture was incubated at 90-95° C. for about 10 hours and filteredat 48-50° C. after cooling with the heat exchanger as described inExample 11.

Dewater cake discharged from the drum filter was dried in a 103° C. airoven. The particle size of the cake was reduced by grinding the cake ina coffee grinder and protein content was determined. The proteincontent, ash content, and lipid content was measured, and is presentedin Table 14-1. TABLE 14-1 Proximate composition of protein product %Composition Cake + Water Cake + Starch Liquefact Protein 83.8 72.5 Ash1.8 1.4 Lipid 4.5 3.4

The water extractable solids (residuals) in the cake were measured byplacing 10 g of dried cake finely ground with a coffee grinder into 50ml tubes with 40 ml of distilled water and tumbling/mixing with rotationfor 1 hr. The tubes were then centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 5 min and thesupernatant was tested for suspended extractable sugars and highersugars/oligosaccharide and similar residuals of liquefied starch.

Sugar DP profile (water extractable carbohydrate) was determined andquantified. The sum of the peak areas of peaks indicating degree ofglucose polymerization (DP) 1-13 were summed (total area 1-13).Similarly, the sum of the peak area of peaks indicating degree ofglucose polymerzation (DP) 1-4 were summed (total 1-4) and the sum ofthe peak area of peaks indicating degree of glucose polymerization DP5-13 were summed (total 5-13). The values reported below in Table 14-2reflect relative percent of total area of total 1-4, and total 5-13.TABLE 14-2 Sugar profile of water extractable residuals in cakeComposition of Water Extractable Sugars, Higher Sugars, andOligosaccharides as Cake + Cake + Starch summed area % of peaks DP 1-13Water Liquefact DP 1-4 (total 1-4/total area 1-13) 30.8% 45.3% DP 5-13(total 5-13/total area 1-13) 69.2% 54.7%Results/Discussion:

The protein content of the gluten cake millstream was raised from 70%(db) protein to 72.5 or 83.8% (db) concentrated protein with practice ofthe invention. The concentrated protein cake produced from the liquefiedand filtered gluten mixture contained a mixture of water extractableresidual sugars and higher sugars/oligosaccharides that were below 13dp. These sugars and higher sugars and oligosccharides were primarilyremnants of the starch liquefaction process that remained in the cakeafter filtrations. The lower protein cake produced from the Cake+StarchLiquefact contained a higher proportion 1-4 DP sugars as compared to5-13 DP higher sugars/oligosaccharides residing within the cake thatwere extractable with water. In comparison, the protein concentrate madefrom a mixture of gluten cake and water contained an even higherproportion of extractables with DP 5-13. It is apparent that the proteincontent of the cake produced was dependent on the concentration ofcarbohydrates in the mixture prior to liquefaction, and thus the proteincontent of the final product could be manipulated by the concentrationof sugars and higher sugars in the mixture prior to filtration.

1. A process comprising: (a) contacting one or more protein-containingmaterials with one or more wet-mill streams and one or morecarbohydrases to produce at least one protein concentrate and at leastone aqueous stream containing water-soluble carbohydrates; and (b)separating the protein concentrate from the aqueous stream containingwater-soluble carbohydrates.
 2. A process according to claim 1, furthercomprising defatting the protein-containing material.
 3. A processaccording to claim 2, wherein defatting the protein-containing materialcomprises contacting the protein-containing material with a solvent. 4.A process according to claim 2, wherein defatting the protein-containingmaterial comprises contacting the protein-containing material with anenzyme.
 5. A process according to claim 1, wherein the grain is corn andthe one or more protein-containing materials comprises gluten.
 6. Aprocess according to claim 1, wherein said process further comprising ableaching step.
 7. A process according to claim 1, wherein at least oneof the one or more wet-mill streams is steep liquor, light steep water,heavy steep liquor or mixtures thereof.
 8. A process according to claim1, wherein the aqueous stream containing water-soluble carbohydrates isrecycled and used as one of the one or more wet-mill streams in step(a).
 9. A process according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the oneor more protein-containing materials is selected from the groupconsisting of light gluten fraction, heavy gluten fraction, corn glutenconcentrate, corn gluten meal, gluten cake and mixture thereof.
 10. Aprocess according to claim 1 wherein step a) takes place at atemperature of at least room temperature.
 11. A process according toclaim 1, wherein said process comprises a membrane filtration stepbefore and/or after step b).
 12. A process according to claim 1, furthercomprising the step of drying the protein concentrate.
 13. A processaccording to claim 1, wherein a least one of the one or morecarbohydrases is selected from the group consisting of alpha amylase,dextrinase, pullulanse, glucoamylase, hemicellulase, cellulose andmixtures thereof.
 14. A process according to claim 1, further comprisingcontacting the one or more protein-containing materials, one or morewet-mill streams, and/or one or more carbohydrases with one or moreenzymes that join protein fragments.
 15. A process according to claim14, wherein at least one of the one or more enzymes are selected fromthe group consisting of polyphenoloxidases and transglutaminases.
 16. Aprocess according to claim 1, further comprising contacting the one ormore protein-containing materials, one or more wet-mill streams, and/orone or more carbohydrases with one or more pectinases.
 17. A processaccording to claim 1, further comprising contacting the one or moreprotein-containing materials with one or more phytases.
 18. A processcomprising contacting one or more protein-containing materials with oneor more wet-mill streams and one or more carbohydrases to produce atleast one protein concentrate and at least one aqueous stream containingwater-soluble carbohydrates, wherein greater than 2% of the solids inthe protein-containing material are gluten.
 19. A process for increasingrecovery of proteins in one or more protein-containing materials of agrain wet milling process wherein the content of water-solublecarbohydrates is increased in at least one aqueous stream containingwater-soluble carbohydrates.
 20. A process comprising the followingsteps: a. obtaining a protein-containing material produced following atleast one separation step in the wet-milling process, b. contacting anaqueous stream of said wet-milling process with the protein-containingmaterial, c. adding an effective amount of carbohydrase for convertingstarchy material in said protein containing material into water-solublecarbohydrates, d. separating into a protein concentrate stream and anaqueous stream enriched with water soluble carbohydrates.
 21. A processaccording to claim 20, wherein the separation is carried out at atemperature greater than 45° C.
 22. A composition comprising greaterthan 70% corn protein concentrate without exogenous saccharificationenzymes.
 23. The composition according to claim 22 wherein thesaccharification enzymes are derived from microorganisms.
 24. Thecomposition according to claim 22, wherein the saccharification enzymesare selected from the group consisting of glucoamylases, pullulanases,and mixtures thereof.
 25. The composition according to claim 23, whereinthe saccharification enzymes are fungal, bacterial, or mixtures thereof.26. A method of making a protein concentrate comprising separating theprotein concentrate from the carbohydrate-containing stream attemperatures greater than 45° C.
 27. The method according to claim 26,wherein microbial growth is substantially inhibited.
 28. A processaccording to claim 1, further comprising performing a filtration step toremove low protein content components before step b).
 29. A processaccording to claim 1, wherein the carbohydrase is added in the form ofmalted grain.
 30. A composition comprising greater than 70% corn proteinconcentrate and a carbohydrate profile, wherein at least 10% of thewater extractable carbohydrates is DP 5-13 (total 5-13) as a percent ofDP 1-13 (total area 1-13).
 31. A process according to claim 1 whereinstep a) takes place at a temperature of at least 50° C.
 32. A processaccording to claim 1 wherein step a) takes place at a temperature of atleast 70° C.
 33. A process according to claim 1 wherein step a) takesplace at a temperature of at least 120° C.